Kickboxing
A striking sport joining boxing hands with kicks. It appeared in the 1960s and 1970s in Japan and the United States at once, from a wish to give karate full contact.
Quick Facts
JapanCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Comparisons
Catalogs & Databases for Kickboxing
About Kickboxing
Kickboxing is a combat sport with punches and kicks whose name arose in the sixties in Japan. Japanese kickboxing combined karate with Thai boxing. The karateka Tatsuo Yamada at the end of 1959 proposed full-contact “karate-boxing” bouts, in February 1963 three karate fighters from Masutatsu Oyama’s Kyokushin dojo met Thai boxers in Bangkok and the promoter Osamu Noguchi founded an association in 1966 and gave the sport its name. The first event under the name kickboxing took place on 11 April 1966 in Osaka.
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In the USA American full contact developed in the seventies, at first practically identical to full-contact karate. The first recognised bout was held on 17 January 1970 (Joe Lewis), in 1974 the PKA was founded and in 1976 the WKA. The international amateur federation is WAKO, the sources place its founding in 1974, or 1977. The rules differ by discipline and organisation. WAKO divides kickboxing into tatami (point fighting, light contact, kick light and forms) with controlled force and ring (full contact, low kick, K1 style) with full force in three rounds of two minutes. Full contact permits kicks only above the waist, low kick adds kicks to the thigh, K1 style knees. WAKO rules prohibit elbows and throws, which is where kickboxing differs from Muay Thai. Professional titles are awarded by the promotional organisations K-1 (since 1993), Glory (since 2012) and ONE Championship. WAKO received full IOC recognition on 20 July 2021, but kickboxing is not in the programme of the Olympic Games. It is part of the World Games and was at the 2023 European Games.
History
The name kickboxing arose in Japan in the sixties of the 20th century. The karateka Tatsuo Yamada proposed at the end of 1959 full-contact karate bouts under the working name karate-boxing. On 12 February 1963 in Bangkok, three karateka from Masutatsu Oyama’s Kyokushin dojo met Thai boxers, and Japan won 2:1. The boxing promoter Osamu Noguchi founded an association in 1966 and gave the sport its name, and the first event under the name kickboxing took place on 11 April 1966 in Osaka. American full contact grew in the seventies from full-contact karate. The first recognised bout was won on 17 January 1970 by Joe Lewis by knockout in the 2nd round. Mike Anderson, who began in taekwondo, organised in 1974 in Los Angeles the first world championship in full contact karate and in 1977–1987 was the first president of WAKO, which according to its own data arose on 26 February 1977 in Berlin as the World All-Style Karate Organization. The PKA arose in 1974 or 1975, the WKA in 1976.
Technique
What is permitted in kickboxing is set by the discipline and the organisation. In American full contact (WKA and similar organisations) kicks are thrown only above the waist, kicks to the legs, elbows, knees, the clinch and grappling are prohibited and only a foot-to-foot sweep is legal. Low kick rules add kicks to the thighs. In WAKO K1 style knees are permitted without a limit on their number, but the clinch is prohibited throughout. Professional K-1 rules permit knees and the clinch for at most 5 seconds and prohibit elbows, throws and headbutts. WAKO rules prohibit elbows and throws in all disciplines, which is where kickboxing differs from Muay Thai. In WAKO point fighting the bout is stopped after every hit, a punch scores 1 point, a kick to the head 2 points and a jumping kick to the head 3 points.
Training
The optional WAKO grading programme, which national federations may adjust, introduces controlled sparring at the green belt, from the brown belt one-minute rounds in semi-contact, light contact, full contact and low kick, and at the 2nd dan controlled, pressure and full-contact sparring. Light contact is fought on mats without stoppages after hits. We have not been able to confirm the structure of an ordinary lesson or the usual training frequency. Lystad (Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 2015) processed 15 years of records of the Nevada athletic commission: 380 injuries in 976 starts, that is 390.1 per 1,000, of which 57.8% to the head. Professionals had roughly 2.5 times higher incidence than amateurs.
Ranks and progression
Belts are introduced by the optional WAKO grading programme in the order white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown and black. Between kyu grades up to the brown belt there are at least 6 months, from brown to 1st dan 12 months and the candidate must be 16 in the year of the exam. From 1st to 2nd dan it is 2 years, from 2nd to 3rd dan 3 years. Exams for the 1st to 3rd dan are conducted by the national federation, from the 4th dan by a WAKO commission at an international seminar and the 8th to 10th dan is awarded by the WAKO board for at least 35 years of work for kickboxing. Coloured belts by exams are used only by some organisations, ISKA, WKA and others have their own rules and we have not been able to confirm mutual recognition of grades.
Who it suits
In its tatami disciplines WAKO has the categories children 7–9, younger cadets 10–12, older cadets 13–15, juniors 16–18, seniors 19–40 and veterans 41–55. Ring disciplines start only with younger juniors at 15–16, children and cadets compete only on tatami. In fighting disciplines a helmet, mouthguard and groin guard are mandatory, in point fighting children and younger cadets also wear a face mask. We have not been able to confirm round lengths for children at WAKO. Women compete in all age categories with their own weight limits and a chest protector from older cadet girls upward. The 2011 statement of the American and Canadian paediatric societies rejects boxing for children because of head injuries, it does not mention kickboxing. Cardio kickboxing is a fitness class without an opponent: in an ACE study 15 women sustained 75–85% of maximum heart rate and burned 350–450 kcal per hour.
Competition
WAKO divides competition into tatami with controlled force (point fighting, light contact, kick light and forms) and the ring with full force (full contact, low kick, K1 style). A ring bout has three rounds of 2 minutes with a one-minute break. The WAKO World Championships are held every two years for national teams with one competitor per country and weight class. Professional titles are awarded by K-1 (since 1993), Glory (since 2012) and ONE Championship, and there is no unified world championship. A K-1 bout has three rounds of 3 minutes, American full contact 3 to 10 rounds of 2 minutes. The IOC granted WAKO full recognition on 20 July 2021, but kickboxing is not in the Olympic programme. It is on the programme of the World Games (2017 as an invitational sport, 2022 and 2025) and was at the 2023 European Games in Kraków. K-1 is a rules format and a promoter organisation, not a separate art. It was founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, the founder of Seidokaikan karate, and the first K-1 Grand Prix took place in April 1993. The K-1 rules permit punches, kicks, sweeps and knees, ban elbows, throws and headbutts, and allow holding in the clinch for only five seconds. Of the 19 K-1 World Grand Prix titles from 1993 to 2012, 15 were won by Dutch fighters. After financial difficulties the organisation was sold to new owners in 2011, and Glory was created in 2012.
Gear
According to WAKO Europe a helmet is mandatory in all fighting disciplines, a mouthguard in all fighting disciplines and age categories and a groin guard for men and women. Gloves are 8 oz with an open palm in point fighting, 10 oz in light contact, kick light, full contact, low kick and K1 style. Shin guards are mandatory in all disciplines, an instep guard on tatami and in full contact, and women wear a chest protector from older cadet girls. Hand and foot wraps are optional, with foot wraps an ankle protector is mandatory.
Philosophy
Kickboxing began as a sporting competition, and its principles are today formulated mainly by the international federation WAKO. WAKO has been a member of the International Committee for Fair Play (CIFP) since 15 October 2016, commits to rejecting violence and doping and to the rule that victory should come through fair play. The values that WAKO and the committee list include respect, friendship, team spirit, equality, integrity, solidarity, tolerance and the joy of sport. WAKO President Borislav Pelevic said on admission to the CIFP that he wants to use fair play as an educational tool. The federation and the committee award the WAKO Fair Play Award, received for example by the Croatian Romeo Desa in 2016 and the Syrian Ali Hussein in 2019. At the youth world championships in Budapest in September 2024, the committee ran a stand where young kickboxers learned the values of respect, care, joy and team spirit. WAKO's ethical and disciplinary code is meant to ensure that the sport is practised safely and honourably.
Styles and schools
WAKO recognizes seven disciplines. Three are fought in the ring at full power in three two-minute rounds with a one-minute break, four on the tatami with controlled force. In full contact, strikes may land on the front, side and top of the head and the front and side of the torso above the waist, and sweeps are allowed. Low kick has the same rules and also permits kicks to the opponent's legs. K1 style also permits knees and shin strikes, and all parts of the legs, joints included, are targets. Elbows and throws other than sweeps at ankle level are forbidden. WAKO Europe announced that holding and clinching will be banned in K1 style from 1 January 2027. On the tatami in point fighting the bout stops after each valid hit and the judges show the points with their fingers, hand strikes and kicks having equal weight. Light contact and kick light are fought continuously until the stop command, kick light builds on full contact techniques and three judges score it electronically or with clickers. Forms are not a fight but a demonstration of combat with an imaginary opponent, with music and with a weapon. In musical forms the competitor chooses their own music and the techniques must match its rhythm.
Today
Kickboxing has no single governing organization. The international amateur federation is WAKO, alongside which operate ISKA (since 1985), WKA, WKN and IKF, each with its own rules. Professional kickboxing in Japan was revived in 1993 by K-1, founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, the creator of Seidokaikan karate. Glory was founded in 2012 and does not continue K-1. Many fighters took a path through kickboxing. Vitalij Klitschko had a kickboxing record of 34 wins and 2 losses, then moved to professional boxing and in 1999 won the WBO heavyweight title. Andy Hug moved from Kyokushin and Seidokaikan to K-1 and in 1996 won the K-1 World Grand Prix. The link with MMA was closest in Japan. The FEG group, the K-1 promoter, also ran the MMA Dream competition in 2008–2012. Mirko Cro Cop, a finalist of the K-1 World Grand Prix in 1999 and 2000, won the Pride Open Weight Grand Prix in 2006 and the K-1 World Grand Prix in 2013. Alistair Overeem won the K-1 World Grand Prix in December 2010 and at the same time held the Strikeforce heavyweight MMA title.
In culture
Kickboxing is named in the title of the 1989 film Kickboxer, with Jean-Claude Van Damme as Kurt Sloane. According to the American Film Institute's listing, Van Damme also wrote the story for the film and choreographed the fight scenes. According to The Numbers' revenue figures, the film, on a budget of 1.5 million dollars, earned 14.5 million in the USA, but this figure comes from a less reliable source and we have not been able to confirm it independently. We did not find any other films, series or books in which kickboxing has documented significance in sources of medium or higher reliability.
Did you know
The 1970 bout between Joe Lewis and Greg Baines was, according to the Indian WAKO federation, the first bout in boxing gloves announced with the word kickboxing. The first full contact world champions in 1974 in Los Angeles were Bill Wallace, Jeff Smith and Joe Lewis. At the first WAKO world championships in 1978, 110 competitors from 18 countries took part, and the federation then adopted the name kickboxing into its rules. WAKO adopted the WADA anti-doping code in 2005. Kickboxing received provisional recognition from the IOC on 30 November 2018 in Tokyo, on the same day as lacrosse and sambo. At the 2023 European Games, kickboxing was contested in Myślenice, where 128 kickboxers from 25 countries fought in 16 weight classes. The K1 style rules forbid entering the ring in trunks or other clothing for Thai boxing.
Styles & Branches
Frequently asked questions
What is kickboxing?
Kickboxing is a combat sport that combines boxing punches with kicks. The international federation WAKO, founded on 26 February 1977 in Berlin, divides it into seven disciplines, three in the ring and four on the tatami.
What is the difference between boxing and kickboxing?
Kickboxing takes the basic punches from boxing, namely the straight, the cross, the hook and the uppercut, and adds kicks to them. In WAKO K1 style, round kicks, heel kicks, crescent kicks, axe kicks, jumping kicks and spinning kicks, shin strikes and knee strikes are also allowed.
What are the rules of kickboxing?
A WAKO ring bout has three two-minute rounds with a one-minute break, and attacks to the neck, back, kidneys, groin and back of the head are forbidden. In point fighting the referee stops the bout after every valid hit, in light contact and kick light the fighting is continuous until the stop command.
What is the difference between kickboxing and Thai boxing?
The rules of WAKO K1 style ban elbows, which Thai boxing allows, and allow throws only as a sweep at ankle level. From 1 January 2027 WAKO will also ban holding and the clinch in K1 style. In addition, one may not enter the ring in Thai boxing attire.
What are the disciplines of kickboxing?
WAKO recognises seven disciplines. In the ring, full contact, low kick and K1 style are fought, on the tatami point fighting, light contact, kick light and musical forms. Low kick differs from full contact only in allowing kicks to the opponent's legs.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.